Gas Fireplace Troubleshooting – 3 Quick Tips

Is your gas fireplace not turning on?

Or does it turn on but not stay lit? No matter the brand – Heat n Glo, Napoleon, Kingsman, Empire, RHPeterson, or any other – the parts will wear out or get dirty or clogged over time.

A thorough cleaning and inspection often fixes many common gas fireplace problems. B&C repairs and services any brand of fireplace except for electric and ventless varieties.

But before you schedule an appointment, here’s a quick troubleshooting checklist to try first. B&C will often ask you to try these over the phone before we come out, so why not try them out yourself first?

1) Make sure the gas is on.

Seems simple, but the gas valve could have gotten turned off for any number of reasons over the summer or since it was last used. After turning it on, wait a couple minutes, and then try lighting the fireplace again. If you’re smelling gas, then shut it off. The safest course of action is to have a professional come out and quickly resolve this.

“Where’s my gas shutoff valve?”

The valve is usually located at the floor below the fireplace, or in the wall operated by a key. If you just moved to this house or can’t find it for some reason, call us up and we may be able to help you find it over the phone. Again – you are safer leaving this work to a professional.

2) Check the batteries

If your fireplace remote isn’t working, sometimes it’s as simple as changing the batteries. There are also batteries at the receiver end, located under or around the fireplace by the controls. Check your fireplace manual to locate them.

3) Make sure the flue is warmed up

To warm up the flue, leave the pilot on for at least half an hour, and then try turning on the fireplace again.

Especially if you have a B-vent fireplace (as opposed to direct vent), a cold flue can prevent the fireplace from lighting. This is common if it’s been a while since you lit the fireplace and the pilot light was turned off. If you have a standing pilot, this means your pilot is always lit, so a cold flue shouldn’t be a problem.

But even with direct vent, if you have an electronic pilot, it may have gotten turned off. You can prevent this in the future by setting it to “winter” mode, which means it will always be on. You can tell if you have an electronic pilot because it makes a clicking sound for a few seconds before it lights. Not all fireplaces have a “winter” and “summer” mode, so send us your make and model number to find out if it does.

If it still doesn’t light after trying these simple gas fireplace troubleshooting tips, or if you are unable to do (or uninterested in doing!) them yourself, then call B&C and have Bob come out to do an inspection. This involves a thorough cleaning and usually takes about 45-60 minutes.

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Modern gas fireplaces have several key components:

• Thermopile (or thermocouple)
• Pilot light
• Gas valve
• Vent (pipes), also called the flue

The thermopile’s job is to keep the valve open so gas can flow and keep the pilot lit. Often, when the pilot is weak or not lighting at all, it’s a problem with the thermopile. To fix this requires expert knowledge beyond most typical homeowners.

Also, the buildup of soot and other debris can clog the valve and weaken the flow of gas. This is why a thorough cleaning and inspection often fixes what you thought would be a costly repair job.

Bad smells are more common in B-vent gas fireplaces than direct vent, but a bad smell does not necessarily mean your fireplace is broken.

Direct vent exhaust pipe

B-vent means the fireplace pulls air from within the house to facilitate combustion (fire needs oxygen).

Direct vent means you have an inner and an outer exhaust pipe, like a smaller pipe inside a larger one (see photo). The inner vent releases the exhaust outside, and the outer vent pulls air from outside to keep the fire burning.

So, with B-vent, a cold flue makes it harder to light because it won’t vent correctly. This results in venting going into your house, rather than up and out. And that stinks. B-vent units do have built-in safety shutoffs that kick in when it’s venting incorrectly, so the odor should not keep getting worse.

To avoid this problem, it’s good to light the pilot and let it burn for a while (see step 3 above) and warm up the flue.

The bottom line is, gas fireplaces are far more convenient and easier to use than wood-burning ones. They’re much less costly overall, since you don’t have to buy wood, and have less environmental impact.

But they do require regular service and upkeep. So if you haven’t had any service or cleaning for several years, that’s likely to be the source of your problem.

Get on our service schedule soon and get your fireplace back to full working order. We book several months in advance, so act now!

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